Our little house is getting a makeover one room at a time. It seems to be taking forever and it can get discouraging but I am reminded by friends and family how much we have done in the three years we've been here.

I've been contemplating what to do now that the living room is mostly done and I decided I was going to tackle the stairs on the porch. In order to do the back bedroom we need to get the furniture out. But the only place to put it is in the loft. Access is impossible right now with the ladder/staircase we use to get up there. It seemed like a good idea until I realized that we haven't done much with the foyer and its the first thing we see when we open the door. It might go long way to improving morale.

Its a small triangle of a room.

So we want the flooring to be something that doesn't accentuate the geometry of the room. I recently finished the fireplace with slate tile and liked the idea of continuing the slate look in the foyer.

So naturally I went to Pinterest to get ideas. Everything was so angular, square or geometric. Until we found this one:

This is actually a sheet of seven tiles that appears random but that fits together like a puzzle. Very cool.

My search starts online to see what prices will be like. Actually, I consider for a very short while, that I could use the leftover tile from the fireplace and cut them myself. Meh. Time is money. It's going to take about 28 sf of tile and at $15 a sheet I'm looking at $420 plus freight.

For those of you who have never read The Jackrabbit Factor by my sister, Leslie Householder, you should take time to read it because it's amazing. Without even thinking about it, this is the way I live my life. This is how we came to be here in Gunlock and this is how I found my tile for the foyer for $59.

I'd spent so much time searching for the perfect solution - the right price, color and shipping online but I wasn't having much luck. So when I found myself in town I dropped by Carpets Plus and asked if they had this particular tile I was looking for. Whaddyaknow. There it is hanging on the wall. Its larger than I thought it would be and its even in the color I want. The sales girl went over all the details and measurements with me then realized when she went to order it that it was discontinued by their supplier. BUT, there is plenty in the warehouse for what I needed so I got the discontinued price. Yippee!!

I'll post a picture of my foyer when its done. It may be a while...I'm trying to finish a new chicken coop for the eight chicks we're raising on the porch.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that its been a year and a half since I've done any updating on my blog. But here's to a new day.

We have miniature goats. They're adorable and so full of personality. Every day I learn something new (like how on earth did they get through the fence this time?) Goats are escape artists. And Nanny isn't that small. Well, technically she is. She's a Pygmy but she can limbo like a champ. I watched her shimmy under a portion of fence that was loose. She really, really wanted to get to the other side because, well, she can.

It all started when we found ourselves in this beautiful little town of Gunlock. Sweetie and I were feeling adventurous and bought two Pygmy goats thinking that they would mow the pasture for us. Yeah, right. We're noobs. We still are after over two years but I have my favorite blogs (my list is below) and Facebook pages that teach me new things every day.

Last year our herd grew with the addition of a little family of Nigerian dwarf goats - Pearl, Frank and Stinky Pete. Again being clueless, we decided to let Ninny and Nanny, our pygmies, have a little social call with Stinky Pete. Now this is July, mind you, and if we had thought through this at all, we would have realized that December probably wasn't the best time to have two new sets of triplets.

We worked hard to make sure their barn was draft free and warm, and thankfully, everything went smoothly. We walked outside one morning to check on them and it took a good full minute to register that there were three of the most adorable brand new baby goats wobbling around Nanny. Baby Goats!!!! Ninny had her three days later.

Two months later, Pearl is standing outside with a new baby. Wha..... Pearl was pregnant??? Well. Egg and our faces are in alignment. BUT, Buttercup is the cutest, sweetest, most adorable little thing in the world!!!

So now we have twelve. On one acre. Yikes. Twelve is too many.

Nanny, buckling, buckling, doeling

Ninny, buckling, buckling, buckling

(Five new boys and only one girl? Come on!)

Pearl, Frank, Buttercup

Stinky Pete.

So we sell four little bucklings, and give the last buckling and Frank to Sweetie's sister. She loves goats and has an acre too.

Down to six. That's better. My ultimate goal is to have a little dairy and make cheese.

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Marcie Bringhurst

I have been sewing and doing alterations for almost 40 years. I learned to sew from my mother who learned from her mother. And I learned the art of wedding and prom dresses from Morelia Diaz when she hired me at the Alterations Shop in St. George Utah. She's amazing. A wizard, really and a dear friend.
I service the St. George, Utah area, including Santa Clara, Ivins, Kayenta, Gunlock, Veyo, Brookside, Central, Pine Valley, Dammeron Valley, Diamond Valley and Winchester Hills.
For a small fee, house calls can be arranged.